Ans: According to Hobbes men are continually in competition for honor and dignity and because of this there arises envy and hatred. Men are plagued by "a perpetual and restless desire of power after power that ceaseth only in death". For Hobbes the solution lies not in the direct subjection to God but to a secular figure of mythical proportions.' And so Hobbes speaks of the mortal God "to which we owe under the immortal God our peace and defense.
For Hobbes, this mortal god is sovereign and his actions cannot be questioned. He, like God, has absolute power, and therefore is out of the pale of justice, and therefore cannot act unjustly. This mortal god enforces laws of nature, such as justice, equality, modesty and mercy. Since all these run contrary to basic selfish passions the ruler must enforce these through terror. It is precisely here where the ruler works like God and so is in essence a god. The rule instills fear of punishment so that his subjects do not......
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